This invention relates to an electronic instrument for measuring and analyzing a woman's basal bodily temperature (BBT) in connection with the treatment of infertility.
A normal menstrual cycle of a fertile woman is characterized by basal body temperature (BBT) curve that is biphasic, i.e., there is a rise in temperature a few hours after ovulation, a rise which generally occurs at about the middle of the menstrual cycle.
AT the present time, the BBT curve is obtained by manually measuring the woman's body temperature using a conventional thermometer every morning upon rising. The temperatures are manually plotted on a graph.
In cases of infertility the BBT curve is frequently abnormal. For this reason a gynecologist usually begins the investigation of an infertile patient by analyzing 2 or 3 cycles of the BBT.
In a certain number of cases of infertility, the BBT curve is not biphasic but monophasic or irregular; this leads us to suppose that ovulation is not occurring, or is occurring only intermittently. Faced with this situation, as in a certain number of others, the treatment adopted by the gynecologist includes hormone replacement therapy with the object of initiating a normal menstrual cycle in the patient, which would be characterized by a biphasic BBT curve.
To achieve a certain efficacy, the hormone replacement therapy must be given on certain precisely determined days throughout the patient's cycle. The intervals between treatment days, and also the interval between treatment and the observation of its results, must also fall on precisely determined dates.